Defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa of Montpellier, who was tipped for a call up earlier this week in the comments of this site, has received his first call up, but he has to be a candidate for the drop. Loic Remy, who’s injured, will likely be a second player dropped, and Blaise Matuidi will probably be the third, assuming no one else gets injured.

Here’s the 26, shoe-horned into the 4-2-3-1 formation:

Goalkeepers
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)

Right Backs
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)

Right-Sided Central Defenders
Adil Rami (Valencia)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) (sometimes plays left)
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Montpellier)

Left-Sided Central Defenders
Philippe Mexes (AC Milan)

Left Backs
Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Gael Clichy (Manchester City)

Defensive Midfielders
Yann M’Vila (Rennes)
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain)

Attacking Central Midfielders
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United) (generally next to a holding midfielder)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City) (generally in front of a holding midfielder, sometimes a winger)
Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)

Left Wingers
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Right Wingers
Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United)
Jeremy Menez (Paris Saint-Germain)
Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille) (sometimes plays central)
Loic Remy (Marseille) (sometimes plays striker)

Strikers
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)

Maybe I’ve got it wrong about Yanga-Mbiwa being dropped. Maybe Valbuena or Malouda will be dropped.

The first 11 generally looks like this:

Benzema
Ribery Nasri Ben Arfa
M’Vila Cabaye
Evra Mexes Rami Debuchy
Lloris

Valbuena’s an unknown – he could be dropped from the squad or he could be starting on the right instead of Ben Arfa. Blanc seems to keep changing his mind about Valbuena. I’m guessing that Ben Arfa has done enough in the last few months of the club season to earn a start on the right.

I think Blanc will err on the side of having more attacking players than defensive players, which played into my thinking about Yanga-Mbiwa and Matuidi being dropped. I think the first 11 is fairly set, and Blanc is going to need three players who can come off the bench to create goals – players like Menez and Giroud (and Remy if he wasn’t injured), and maybe Martin, Gourcuff, Valbuena, or Malouda.

We could use more goal-scorers from the bench. Kevin Gameiro hasn’t even been called up, which caps a disappointing first season for him with PSG.

I’d like to see Martin coming off the bench with Menez and Giroud to make up the first-choice 14.

I really hope it starts well. If we lose 3-0 to England, I could envision a complete collapse.

Ok. Assuming Cabaye and M’Vila are fit, Blanc has problems in midfield like Messi has trouble scoring goals in La Liga. Perhaps beyond those two he is sincerely concerned.

M’Vila has been great for France every time he’s played, especially in some of his early appearances. I have watched a shocking number of Rennes matches this season and last season, second only to Arsenal, to follow his progress. The ability is there, he sometimes looks like he’s playing at about 85%, and he sometimes gets caught out, but I’m assuming (hoping) that he’s saving his best for France.

Cabaye has been eye-catching at Newcastle. What can be said? We should get a comment from a Geordie, a proper member of the Toon army. He’s a playmaker, a distributor; a midfielder who dictates play. I’ll try to find some stats to make the point: ok, 4 goals and 6 assists, it’s not earth-shattering, but 33 starts in his first season, in central midfield, helping his team finish with 20 more points than they had the previous season. The stats hint at the story, but watching him play tells the rest of it. He’s a good player.

Cabaye and his club mate Ben Arfa make their way into a sexy projected front six:

Benzema
Ribery Nasri BenArfa
M’Vila Cabaye

Yes they’re newbies at international level, but that will just make their dynasty longer. Ribery’s not a newbie, but I’ve been trying to work in Menez anyway, one of my chouchous.

So, in short, I’m dismissing Blanc’s midfield moan as either a motivational tactic or a comment on the understudies, although with Gonalons, Matuidi, A. Diarra, and maybe Amalfitano he has options. It has to go down as a half-hearted moan.

Defenders
1. Gael Clichy (Manchester City)
2. Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
3. Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur)
4. Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
5. Philippe Mexes (AC Milan)
6. Adil Rami (Valencia)

Midfielders
7. Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)

Attacking Midfielders
8. Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
9. Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
10. Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United)
11. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)

Strikers
12. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

Sagna and Abidal are out with injury/illness. Clichy might have a chance to make the squad. Clichy is playing at Man City ahead of Kolorov – a player they paid some £16 million to sign.

The list of clubs Blanc has chosen from is mouthwatering.

My hunch is that Kaboul will not make the final squad, which is hard on him, but shows good strength in depth for France. I’m thinking the other 11 will be in the final 23.

Are there some surprise exclusions?

I had the impression that Germany were more poor than France were good, but a victory away to Germany is always welcome.

Here’s how we lined up:

Giroud
Ribery Nasri Valbuena
M’Vila Cabaye
Abidal Mexes Rami Debuchy
Lloris (C)

Lloris is the full-time captain now, which is no surprise, and he did well to keep Germany out at least a couple times.

The match was oddly casual, France’s defenders deferred to Lloris on a couple occasions, confident that he would keep it out. France’s defenders made some great blocks when the midfielders deferred to them. In a real match, we would want to see the first line of available defense defending.

The first goal came from a Debuchy run, looking like a right winger. Giroud stayed on side, and scored from close range. I think the assist and the goal might have been nutmegs. Debuchy and Giroud did really well on the goal. I would have to look back on who passed to Debuchy, maybe Valbuena. Debuchy made his own luck in getting into a dangerous position, doing just enough to get past his marker with the ball.

Life could definitely go on if Benzema missed the Euros. Giroud looked pretty good, and Saha came on and looked fit.

Perhaps more key than Benzema is Nasri. He’s playing in the attacking central midfield role, and he looks like the player with the most complete skill set for the role: speed, a little trickery, some one-touch passing, and he can score.

Another option could be Menez. I am an unapologetic fan of Menez. I’m on the edge of my seat every time he starts charging with the ball towards goal, and it’s often in the central channel. And he steals the ball from time to time, which is brilliant for an attacker.

Overall it’s great to have a settled team. Maybe part of the reason the France players can play so casually is because they have so much confidence. We have a lot of seasoned professionals.

A curiosity mentioned by the match commentator is that France’s first 11 represented 11 different clubs. They’re some great clubs.

Malouda got the second goal. It was a scramble on the goal line, Giroud was also right there. Again it was Debuchy with the assist, all the way forward on the right.

Germany’s goal was a late consolation, but France’s defense was beaten all ends up. It was an unmarked tap-in at the far post. Let’s hope it was just fatigue.

Amalfitano got some minutes, and he looked good enough for this level. Alou came on too, and he looked ok.

It feels like Blanc is doing a great job with the team. We don’t look good enough to be European Champions, yet, but the base is there for a great team, and we’re building in the right direction.

Mexes is back, although playing against Juventus today, he was on the right side of the central defense. He’s gone right back into the AC Milan first 11 after injury, which is encouraging. Blanc is counting on him:

“Philippe is a lad who I count on enormously. He has a different skill-set to other defenders.”

That’s as big of an endorsement as a player could hope for from the national team manager – and Mexes was an ever-present before his injury – so his place in the team is hardly in question. The one player who was emerging to challenge for his spot was Koscielny of Arsenal, and he has a potential injury concern of his own right now, so things look to be falling into place for Mexes. We need a star in defense, and he fits the profile.

Here’s the full list for the friendly on Wednesday away to Germany:

Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Philippe Mexes (AC Milan), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon), Mamadou Sakho (Paris St Germain)

Midfielders: Morgan Amalfitano (Marseille), Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Yann M’Vila (Stade Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Samir Nasri (Manchester City), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Forwards: Kevin Gameiro (PSG), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Jeremy Menez (PSG), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Louis Saha (Tottenham Hotspur)

Olympique Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano has been called up by France for the first time. Louis Saha is back – Benzema and Loic Remy are out injured.

Jeremy Mathieu and Maxime Gonalons have been left out after being in the last squad. Mathieu Valbuena has returned.

Blanc said that Mexes, Lloris, and Abidal are candidates to be captain.

France have been drawn to face England, Ukraine and Sweden in Euro 2012. Ukraine is co-host with Poland. The match with England should be good fun.

How have folks been enjoying their club football? It’s been a chore for me, almost. Not really, of course, but I could use some France goodness to put the beautiful back in the beautiful game.

At least in Cabaye and M’Vila, we have two capable midfielders in reasonably good form. That’s a platform a lot of sides would envy.

Here’s a potential first 11:

Gameiro
Ribery Nasri Menez
M’Vila Cabaye
Abidal Mexes Rami Debuchy
Lloris

Sagna’s been left out. He’s just coming back from injury. Clichy has long since been out of favor.

This is a big test for Gameiro – whether he’ll get a start, and if he does, whether he’ll deliver. The jury is still out on the PSG striker – he looks like he can score goals – can he be an all-around performer?

A match against Germany is just good fun. Imagine winning big at their place.

Come on you Blues (Allez les Bleus).

I’m a big fan of the current team, but to be winners, we need a little bit more quality from these players.

Did anyone catch the England-Spain friendly? The 1-0 England victory runs counter to my point, but I won’t let that stop me. Spain looked brilliant (other than not scoring), and England looked just about as poor as they’re typically described in the English press (aside from winning the match). Spanish players tended to have a brilliant touch and fantastic ball control, English players tended to blur the line between attempted close-control and short-range passing. (I exaggerate. Slightly.)

France is somewhere in between right now. Yes, we could win something like England in that friendly, or Greece in Euro 2004, with solid defending and a goal against the run of play, but our probability of success would be greatly increased, I believe, if the players could up their game just a little bit, and bend the ball to their will.

For me, the issue is ball control. Everything else is in place: great athleticism, commitment, spirit, intelligence, discipline, formation, tactics. The one thing that wasn’t in place against Belgium tonight was mastery of the ball. For every great touch, there was a poor one. We just weren’t sharp enough, but the optimist in me believes we could be. We have been, at times: our own friendly against England, the qualifier away to Romania when the pitch was falling apart. I had the impression, at least, in those matches that we’re much closer to the Spanish technique than we were tonight against Belgium.

I’ve thrown out “5%” as the required improvement to represent my view that we’re close to being a team that looks like a potential winner, and to represent my view that Blanc is doing his part.

Here’s how we lined up:

Benzema
Ribery Martin Remy
M’Vila Cabaye
Abidal Sakho Rami Reveillere
Lloris

M’Vila went off injured, carried off on a stretcher with his neck in a brace. It looked like they were being really cautious. Blanc said afterwards, according to L’Equipe, that the issue is with the neck, and that early reports are that it’s not too serious. It was a bad fall, but if anyone can recover quickly, I would expect it to be Yann.

Maxime Gonalons was a like-for-like replacement for M’Vila, and he did ok.

Sakho had a great game – his first for France. He was the pick of the defenders.

Martin was a little disappointing, which he acknowledged after the match (again from L’Equipe). Getting the best out of him is one issue for Blanc to ponder. It can’t have as much impact as the players spending every free moment refining their loving first touch and magnetic ball control, but it’s at least something for Blanc’s list of things to do.

Remy and Menez have a healthy competition for that right-forward spot. The formation was like this at times:

Ribery Benzema Remy
Martin Cabaye
Abidal M’Vila Revelliere
Sakho Rami
Lloris

Abidal and Reveillere appeared to be under instructions to play high up the pitch. They were trying to release Ribery and Remy. This often cut Martin out of the play. Remy’s goals should guarantee him a spot in the team for the big tournament in the summer, and Menez looked lively when he came on. Several players have auditioned for that spot on the right – it looks like it’s down to two, or maybe three with Nasri, who missed this match and the USA friendly through injury.

While the tactics, and the broken down moves, took Martin out of the match, Cabaye was still able to see a lot of the ball, and played well. Cabaye, Remy, Menez, and Sakho are all players who seem to be improving quickly. It’s enough to give me some optimism for the Euros. Debuchy, Koscielny, and Jeremy Mathieu all looked promising against the US. Sagna and Mexes are still to come back from injury. Gourcuff could force his way back.

And Ribery and Benzema seem to like playing together, so that’s also promising.

That might be it for France blogging for a while. The next match is a friendly against Germany in February, I believe. If a lack of posting is having any negative repercussions for anyone, let me know in the comments, and I might chime in with something. I’ll throw up something if I see any interesting news of relevance, or if I’m in my cups, but otherwise, lurkers, enjoy your winter holidays, and Allez Les Bleus.

For this match, Blanc tried a 4-4-2, basically, with Gameiro up front with Benzema. Honestly, it is a very subtle difference to the standard 4-2-3-1 formation. It’s 4-4-2 if Gameiro is staying next to Benzema, and a 4-2-3-1 if he’s usually behind Benzema. Because Gameiro and Benzema both play the lone-striker role for PSG and Real Madrid, respectively, it felt like a 4-4-2, even if Gameiro would sometimes take up a position in the “hole” behind Benzema.

While we’re on the subject, I should say that it didn’t really click for Gameiro.

Other than that, everything else seemed to work.

Playing Menez worked. He stood out, especially in the first half. Menez is a type of player that I love watching, but I don’t know if everyone does. His runs remind me of Diaby. I see a player beating opponents and creating opportunities. Others often see a player wasting opportunities. “He held onto it too long, and ruined everything,” is a typical response. For me, it’s fantastic to incorporate this type of element into the team, but the other players have to put themselves into positions to take advantage.

Here’s how they lined up:

Benzema Gameiro
Ribery M’Vila A.Diarra Menez
Mathieu Koscielny Rami Debuchy
Lloris (C)

That “C” by Lloris is unofficial confirmation that Blanc’s armband rotation is over. Lloris is the captain. This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone. Previously, when Alou got a start, he got the captaincy. Alou was in a pretty foul mood ahead of the match in his press conference. Maybe Blanc had just told him that Lloris would be captain.

But Alou did ok in this match, and France had control of midfield.

One argument against the 4-4-2 is that there can be an annoying vacant space between the block of two in midfield and the block of two up front. Menez used that as his running track at times, but Gameiro and Alou never found a way to use that space. There’s an argument to be made that Nasri, Cabaye, Martin or Gourcuff could have played better in either position (Alou’s or Gameiro’s). They like that space between midfield and striker. We have a lot of options. Cabaye and Nasri were out injured. They’re both probably first choice right now.

Overall the rest of the team looked good. Mathieu had a lot of the ball, making forward runs from left back. There’s no reason to drop him based on that performance. Evra is still a bit of a train wreck right now. Even his mother must struggle to love him at times, and I say that as one of his biggest supporters/apologists. Abidal is probably still first choice, but Mathieu is worthy of consideration. He’s a good player to watch.

Koscielny, Rami, and Debuchy were great. Kos nearly earned a second yellow card in 2nd half stoppage time, which would have put a really negative reflection on his match, but at times in the match he played some great football, breaking up play. These three played tenacious, stingy defense. Rami is automatic first choice, with good reason. Debuchy and Koscielny looked to be at a similar level. We were playing with three new defenders, and we looked as good as ever at the back, so Blanc is going to have to think through this one. Debuchy looked great at getting in blocks, even higher up the pitch he defended with real intensity.

I always note M’Vila’s mistakes to try to temper my enthusiasm for the player, and he had some giveaways, but his long passing was so good – he does a decent impersonation of Marvin Martin with some of his passing.

Of course it took Martin himself to set up the goal, with a ball over the top to Remy. Remy did really well, held off his defender, and scored the winner. Brilliant, and great fun for a friendly.

Giroud had a chance to score a late 2nd, and 2-0 would have been the right result. He sliced it wide.

Ribery and Benzema both looked fine. There’s no threat, I hope, of them losing their spots. They’re our two best attacking players.

If we’re making snap judgments, we could say that Gameiro up front with Benzema didn’t work. He didn’t suddenly transform into the #10 playmaker. This was coupled with Blanc also playing Alou, so build-up on the ground to set up strikers was not happening.

The chances seemed to be coming from runs from Mathieu and Menez, and balls over the top from M’Vila.

The US rarely threatened. They (we) (I’m a dual citizen) were missing Donavan, and Dempsey couldn’t get a touch. The player I really like is Altidore. He makes up for limited technical ability with endeavor. He can hold up the ball and bring other players into the attack. It’s a completely legitimate approach, and even though he doesn’t look likely to score, he still looks like the danger man. I don’t know what his personality is like, but on the pitch, he’s all heart. I like that guy.

France had almost all of the ball and almost all of the attack, so the US defended well. It was heading toward a 0-0 draw.

Martin and Remy were a couple astute substitutions from Blanc.

The stadium was packed. There was a turnout from some Americans – there are plenty living in Paris – but it was all French flags in the air when France scored. The boos at halftime were cheers at full time.

Update: I did not realize how much press coverage the “US Men’s National Team” received. I apparently omitted a key element of the match: the US midfield was reportedly dreadful, to the point that people are questioning Klinsmann’s competence for selecting some of them. These reports tend to restrict discussion of France to “European powerhouse with no losses in 16 matches,” as part of the explanation for how terrible the US was. The US midfield, in particular, is being skewered, with player ratings ranging from 3 to 4.

Congratulations to Maxime. I have not watched Lyon this season, which is disappointing. I will try to catch up so as to be less blind-sided by which of their midfielders gets called up.

France play friendlies against the US on Friday and Belgium on Tuesday, both in Paris’s Stade de France, the venue, of course, for the 1998 World Cup final. The crowd there has seemed more up-beat since Blanc took over, and attendances, from what I remember seeing, have been fairly strong.

These friendlies, though, do not generate a lot of interest. It is key for France, and the support of the team, that they play well and score goals. A 0-0 in a tense game, I can enjoy. Not so much in a friendly. Of course it should be treated as a training match with the same formation, etc. that Blanc would use in a competitive fixture, but the players need to give us something to be excited about with their brilliance on the pitch.

I hope at least a few of them are up for it.

I’ll update later, but here’s the squad to face the USA and Belgium:

Goalkeepers
Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux)
Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona)
Matthieu Debuchy (Lille)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
Adil Rami (Valencia)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia)
Mamadou Sakho (Paris St Germain)

Midfielders
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yann M’Vila (Stade Rennes)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)

Attacking Midfielders
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Jeremy Menez (PSG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Forwards
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kevin Gameiro (PSG)
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)
Loic Remy (Marseille)

Update: Jeremy Mathieu of Valencia has made the squad – a fullback in form. He can put in a mean cross. Congratulations to Jeremy. He benefits from Evra being dropped, but he’s also been making the highlights for Valencia, so he’s earned it as well, I believe. Blanc said Evra was dropped because of his “personal drama.” Clichy is still frozen out. What is the back four going to be? It looks like Abidal will move back to the left. Who starts with Rami???? Koscielny has been in form for Arsenal, and Sakho has looked ok (from the little I’ve seen) for PSG recently.

Update: I have now seen video (on lequipe.fr) of Blanc explaining his decision to include Giroud: “Good start to the season, like his club,” and “atypical for his size.” According to Wikipedia, he’s 6 foot 3.5 inches tall. So that would mean that he’s especially mobile for a big guy, I gather. This is what Blanc was looking for with Hoarau – a tall center forward to give the team another option. Will Giroud take his chance?

Update – Dropped: Evra is joined by Valbuena and Kaboul. That’s harsh on Valbuena. Kaboul has lost out to Koscielny and Sakho. Matuidi and Gourcuff have been overlooked. Hoarau lost out to Giroud. Who am I still missing? Diaby and Mexes are still out injured.